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Serving San José State University since 1934

TuesdayNovember 24, 2009Volume 133, Issue 44

SPORTS OPINION A&EWAC’s worst to square

off Saturday Page 8

A personal account of a foreclosed home

Page 7

Newest ‘Twilight’ movie underwhelms

Page 5

] ] ]

AmeriCorps students aspire to bridge borders

San Jose art culture may be on the rise

UPD offi cial says SJSU has little gang violence

l

The loud chatter of about 40 middle-school students

reverberated in a church meet-ing hall next door to their char-ter school.

Th e students were restlessly waiting to be dismissed from their homework period at the room inside San Jose’s First Ap-ostolic Church.

But they weren’t going any-where until they calmed down, said junior packaging major Jamie Fisher.

Fisher is helping tutor stu-dents from ACE Charter School, a small middle school that began two years ago to help underper-forming students reach grade-level standards, according to the school’s Web site.

“It’s defi nitely a diff erent experience than any other vol-unteer work I’ve ever done,” she said. “It’s very demanding. It takes a lot of time and energy out of you.”

Th e school is so small it had

to make arrangements to use the room in the church next door for tutoring, Fisher said.

Fisher is a fi rst-time AmeriCorps member, a federally funded service program with a number of projects around the nation, according to its Web site.

AmeriCorps’ service projects range from educating the com-munity about health, tutoring at struggling schools and helping low-income families out of pov-erty, according to its Web site.

AmeriCorps has been on the SJSU campus since 2002, said Jeff Russell, the member devel-opment coordinator for Ameri-Corps.

Th e Bridging Borders AmeriCorps Project is SJSU’s AmeriCorps service program that works with other commu-nity organizations to help im-migrant families in Santa Clara County, Russell said.

First-time challengesFisher said she had helped tu-

By Suzanne YadaStaff Writer

San Jose is not a dense urban area and the widespread city-

scape has made it challenging to create a popular art scene, said a SJSU art technician.

Shelby Smith, a ceramic and glass technician, said there is an art scene emerging in San Jose.

“(Th e) South First Fridays event has been great to help the San Jose art scene become more popular,” he said. “Th e event has encouraged people to come out and support the arts.”

South First Fridays is an

event that happens on the fi rst Friday of every month in the South First Area of downtown San Jose, according to the South First Fridays Web site.

Th e South First Area district is the area south of San Carlos Street, between Market Street and Second Street, according to the City of San Jose Web site.

Th e district is San Jose’s vi-sual arts and entertainment dis-trict, according to the San Jose Downtown Association Web site.

Jonathan Yao, an SJSU alum-

Jamie Fisher (left) prepares to work with her second group of students on Nov. 14. As an Americorps volunteer, Fisher gets a new group of students to work with every class period at the ACE Charter School in San Jose.

[ Chad Ziemendorf / Spartan Daily ]

See TUTOR, Page 2

[ Michelle Gachet / Spartan Daily ]

An art piece by SJSU alumus Adam Coldwell at the Industrial Studies building on Thursday.

By Angela MarinoStaff Writer

Aside from graffi ti tagged on the walls of the Dr. Martin

Luther King Jr. Library, little gang activity has penetrated the SJSU campus, said a University Police Department offi cial.

UPD Sgt. John Laws said night patrol has seen graffi ti markings from the Barrio Williams Street gang whose presence has been al-most nonexistent since the mid- ’90s.

“When we do have something that’s gang related it’s generally go-ing to be something in the library, or something off campus,” Laws said. “For a couple of years we were having some gang activity in

the teen center on the third fl oor of the King Library.

“It took a lot of directed patrol on the part of the library security staff and the offi cers working in the King Library to minimize and diff use that problem.”

Anh Th u Tran, a junior hospi-tality and management major, said she has not seen any gang activity on campus.

“Around my old neighborhood, yes, my brother has been jumped twice at Independence High, but around campus I haven’t heard much about any gang violence,” she said. “I’m not here on campus often. I’m here for classes, then I leave.”

Tran said she has noticed graf-fi ti tagging on the fence of her so-

rority house, but doesn’t know the markings of any gangs.

“Th ere’s obviously parties around campus and toward the evenings, or there’s people that are walking the streets at night, but we don’t know if they’re students or not,” she said. “Th ey tend to get violent if they are not given access to some of the parties that happen to be around campus. And we’ve been noticing that lately.”

Tran said when violence breaks out at a party, they usually call the police.

San Jose Community Services Supervisor Mario Maciel, said San Jose is one of the safest cities in the Bay Area.

“I haven’t seen any major trends forming,” he said.

He said most incidents occur at parties thrown by SJSU students, but those are isolated incidents.

“A college student probably is not a gang banger,” Maciel said.

Laws said gangs have not been a problem on campus.

“Th rough directed enforce-ment by the university police and by the city police department, we were able to essentially make the Barrio Williams Street gang some-thing that was no longer of con-cern to the university,” he said.

Laws said UPD offi cers have reported seeing graffi ti tagging that is associated with that gang, but no other activity has been as-sociated with the Barrio Williams

By Alicia JohnsonStaff Writer

International students fi nd meaning

of Thanksgiving

Spending time with loved ones at a big dinner is how

some SJSU students spend their Th anksgiving holiday.

For students living at the International House, Th anks-giving takes on a diff erent meaning.

“For me, it’s just like a big dinner with turkey,” said Magdalena Wierzbolowicz, a ju-nior double major in accounting and fi nance from Poland.

Jonny Mowlem, a ju-nior double major in busi-ness management and market-ing from Scotland, has heard about the business side of Th anksgiving.

“My perception of it before I came here was actually that it was the second-biggest thing be-hind Christmas,” he said. “But I’ve been told in terms of sales and that type of thing in the business sector, it’s actually big-ger than Christmas.

“Th ere’s more purchasing and buying and there are bigger sales days.”

Ebony Flett, a tourism and event management student from Australia, said she can see the traditional side of the holiday.

“It’s a real family sort of thing,” she said. “Everyone gets together and gives thanks for ev-erything that they have.”

For foreign students that don’t regularly celebrate Th anks-giving and are away from their families during the holiday, they fi nd other ways to spend their time.

“For Th anksgiving, since we’re staying at the International House, we’re going in a group of 25, which is a third of the house, to San Diego,” Mowlem said. “Hopefully, the weather is good, but I heard its better in April.

“We’re going to visit a few people down there as well and go to the zoo, the water park, I think its called water world (Sea World),” he said. “And go on a road trip and basically hang around San Diego.”

Wierzbolowicz, one of the 25 people going to San Diego, said the group will be leaving on Wednesday and will be coming back Sunday.

“We are renting cars and traveling,” she said. “We plan to connect to L.A. because some people still haven’t seen L.A.”

Mowlem said the reason for the fi ve-day road trip to San Di-

By Dominique DumadaugStaff Writer

See HOLIDAY, Page 2 See ART, Page 4

See GANGS, Page 3

Our next issue will hit the stands Tuesday, Dec. 1

The Spartan Daily will not be printing on the

following days:

Nov. 25, 26, 30

Spartan Daily2[ ]NEWS Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Th e Mosaic Cross Cul-tural Center in the Student Union held a two-hour dis-cussion Th ursday evening about immigrant issues with 50 people in attendance.

“As an international stu-dent graduating this year, I started questioning my fu-ture here in the U.S. given the recession,” said Gunjan Malekar, a Salzburg scholar from India.

“Th ere aren’t enough jobs,” Malekar said. “Coming from India and now being an ac-countant or engineer makes it diffi cult because corpora-tions have only so many op-portunities, and the govern-ment can hand out only so many green cards.”

Serry Dumbuya said his country, Sierra Leone, is diff erent from the United States.

“Th is is the land of op-portunity, but in my country I know what poverty is,” said Dumbuya, a senior political science major. “Sierra Leone can be a rough country with no potable water, little or no food, and huts for houses. Go see the world and the extreme conditions — ev-erybody wants to come back here.”

Diana Victa, a senior soci-ology major, said immigrants are sometimes wrongfully downgraded.

“Immigrants that people say don’t pay taxes are pay-ing social security taxes, food taxes, gas taxes and property taxes, so it’s not fair to label or denigrate them,” Victa said.

“Issues of racism, xeno-phobia and economic in-justice were problematical,” Malekar said. “Outsourcing of jobs because of global la-bor markets surfaced. Th is

explains the hostility of auto workers laid off in Nummi.”

Malekar’s PowerPoint out-lined a history of exclusion of some races such as Asian and Latin American and favored certain European nation’s emigration.

Victoria Lis, a freshman biological science major, gave her view about starting over.

“You can’t have it all,” she said. “My family is going through economic hardship now, my dad’s hours have been cut in Santa Cruz and though I am a French citizen, I can’t start over in France. I would be back at square one. I have to stick it out, and sur-vive with whatever part-time jobs I can fi nd.”

Junior sociology major Dijana Sirorica said she is go-ing through major economic problems.

“Th e United States has an empire mentality and is only concerned with profi t,” she

said. “My family is suff ering because of predatory balloon loans, and my family has lost their house.”

Speaking about the hous-ing market, Michael Guiter-rez said “this is the land of opportunity for predators and predatory loans.”

Malekar’s PowerPoint showed the problems cre-ated by H1B visas for highly skilled software workers and H2B visas for the farm la-borers needed seasonally by American agriculture.

H1B visas are issued to software companies who can’t fi nd qualifi ed U.S. workers.

H2B visas have been is-sued to farm workers, be-cause American workers will not take farm jobs.

“When there is a scarcity of jobs, competition becomes fi erce,” Malekar said.

“In harsh economic times, immigrants are charged with stealing American jobs,” said

Fernando Marquez, a senior political science major. “I have to point out to all of you that these immigrants legal or illegal were hired to do jobs that many Americans feel beneath their station.”

Marquez said conserva-tive talk shows degrade im-migrants.

“Fox and conservative media channels and talking heads like Lou Dobbs, who recently quit, are constantly demonizing immigrants and I for one will not miss Lou Dobbs one bit. Nor do I trust Janet Napolitano,” he said.

Lukagho Kdsomo, a se-nior political science major, said America is a place of op-portunity.

“People tend to forget that ‘Land of Opportunity’ is an idea and almost theo-retical,” Kdsomo said. “Op-portunity is what you make it. It works for some, but not all.”

tor disabled children in high school and was a peer health educator in college, but said tutoring underper-forming middle school students was a new challenge.

“I have to be more strict than what I’m used to,” she said. “Some of them are really helpful, and some of them will do everything possible to just make your day awful and make you want to cry.”

Russell, a former AmeriCorps member, said most fi rst-time Ame-riCorps members experience chal-lenges similar to Fisher’s.

“Everybody wants it to be fun, like ‘Hey, I’m working with kin-dergarteners and they’re just little balls of energy,’ and nobody wants to work with the nasty fi fth- and sixth-graders who have their own personality and opinions,” he said. “We really are working with the students who are working at the lowest level of the classroom, and we’re trying to bring up their scores. And that’s not an easy thing to do.

“But if people are patient with the students and committed to helping them, we as a program can give them the tools they need to suc-ceed.”

Fisher said that despite all her struggles, she is still pushing for-ward.

“I think this is a great program to help underprivileged kids,” she said. “It’s just a matter of getting on their level and being able to help them and letting us help them.”

About the charter schoolACE Charter School principal

Vanessa Sifuentes said about 95 percent of the school’s 215 students come from Spanish-speaking fami-lies, and about 80 percent are per-forming below grade level.

She said instead of having an after-school program, ACE Charter

School’s hours are extended until 5 p.m. and include a homework pe-riod for all students.

“A lot of our parents struggle with helping their children with their homework for a variety of rea-sons,” Sifuentes said. “Th e time is an issue, the language sometimes makes it diffi cult for parents who don’t read or write in English to re-ally support their children with their homework.

“So what we like to do is provide our kids with a space where they can come in, sit down and do their homework and ask questions before they go home.”

Sifuentes said that this was the fi rst year ACE partnered with Ame-riCorps for tutors, and she’s working with the program to get more.

“Th e tutors that we have right now are just doing a phenomenal job,” she said. “Th ey’re working with the kids. Th ey’re getting to know them. Th ey’re building relationships with them.

“All teachers know that nine-tenths of your job is just about building relationships with your kids.”

But Russell said that building relationships is less about being a friend and more about earning re-spect.

“Students size you up the fi rst week you’re there, and they really see what they can get away with,” he said. “And it’s imperative to establish the expectation that you’re there to be their mentor and role model, and to help them with their academics. You’re not there to be their friend or somebody they can walk all over.”

Lessons learnedBecky Yee, a fellow AmeriCorps

tutor at ACE Charter School, said she learned how to be fi rm with mis-behaving kids.

“Disciplining them is not about being the mean person or the bad guy,” she said. “I don’t like to dis-cipline at all. But it’s about being fair to the kids that are doing good,

that want to learn.”Yee, a senior health science ma-

jor, said that she didn’t know what to expect when she signed up for AmeriCorps.

“After the fi rst week, I was to-tally blown away,” she said. “I was shocked. I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know yet about working with kids.”

Fisher said one of the things she learned was how to get the students to use her as a resource.

“A lot of the students we have re-ally want to learn but don’t want to ask for help,” she said. “Th ey don’t want people to think that they’re stupid.”

Attempting to make it workTh e ACE Charter School is one

of 13 sites in Santa Clara County that Bridging Borders AmeriCorps serves, Russell said.

He said he wished the Ame-riCorps members tutoring at ACE Charter School had more training in handling the age group.

“I’d be lying if I said it’s been 100 percent ideal in everything, but if you’re going to work in the com-munity, then chances are you’re not going to run into ideal conditions often anyways,” Russell said.

Fisher said the tutors use several diff erent tactics to help the students pay attention, including separating the ones who are overly talkative.

“Honestly, they’re great kids and they’re a lot of fun to work with,” she said. “It’s just getting them in the right environment and away from people who distract them. We’re trying to see who works well together.”

Fisher said though the experience is a challenge, she enjoys knowing she is making a diff erence.

“I really like helping out the community,” she said. “I really don’t know why. Just by nature, I like to be involved. I like hands-on work. I like being able to help people or help situations or make things better.”

TUTORFrom Page 1

Jamie Fisher of Americorps (right) helps a student at the ACE Charter School in San Jose with her writing assignment during study hall on Nov. 13.

[ Chad Ziemendorf / Spartan Daily ]

Cultural center holds talk about immigrant issuesego was simple.

“We were obviously aware that we’ve got a big holiday and a break from our classes,” he said. “So we thought we would utilize it to the best of our ability and go away some-where.”

Flett said the international students have also been invited to experience an American Th anksgiving.

“We’re going to spend some time at Th anksgiving with an American girl who lives in the house,” she said. “She invited us all to her house for Th anksgiving, so we’re going away, but also going to visit an Ameri-can home.”

Mowlem said spending Th anksgiving with an American family would appeal to him.

“We’ve got the off er to go to a proper American dinner for Th anksgiving, which would really be nice, because I don’t celebrate in Scotland,” he said. “It would be pretty cool.”

Mowlem said while many international students will be spending time in San Diego, the 18 American students living in the Inter-national House have plans of their own.

“Th ey are going home to see family,” he said. “Th ey’re booking fl ights.”

HOLIDAYFrom Page 1

By Ben CadenaStaff Writer

3Spartan DailyTuesday, November 24, 2009 [ ]NEWS

A member of the Depart-ment of State visited SJSU on Th ursday to talk with students about potential careers as foreign specialists in U.S. embassies and consulates around the world.

McKenzie Taylor said meet-ing Foreign Service Specialist Laura Williams in the Boccardo Business Complex will help her with her future career.

“Th is is exactly what I want to do with my career,” said the senior political science major.

Williams met with about 170 students throughout four diff er-ent sessions to talk about work-ing for the Department of State.

She said offi cials from the Department of State look to hire college graduates with experi-ence but that speaking to college students was still important.

“It’s really about planting that seed,” she said.

Williams said working for the Department of State helps fulfi ll the department’s mission to rep-resent the United States to the world.

Tomasz Kolodziejak, a junior international business major, said he couldn’t join the Depart-ment of State, but said he found the sessions fascinating.

“I’m not a citizen, but (the sessions) still helps,” he said.

Ryan Wu, a senior global

studies major, said when he was an intern for the Department of State, he was asked to apply for a foreign aff airs campus coordina-tor position.

He said he was one of two people that got the position for California, and he helped bring Williams to SJSU.

Williams said working for the Department of State could allow employees to work at one of the more than 180 U.S. embassies and consulates.

“We have 265 diff erent (job) postings around the world,” she said.

Williams said there are many diff erent career tracks in the De-partment of State, which include positions in information tech-nology and management.

“I learned all about (informa-tion technology),” she said.

Williams said the fi rst couple of postings after getting the job are assigned, but employees can choose their own postings after-ward.

“Th ey’re not going to put you anywhere high stress or high danger,” she said.

Th e Department of State wants diverse employees, Wil-liams said.

“We want people from a broad cross section of academic backgrounds,” she said.

Williams said diversity is important to the Department of State, but that wasn’t always

the case.“In the old days, it was male,

pale and from Yale,” she said.Th e government provides

housing while overseas on as-signment, she said.

Williams said there are three levels of assignment in the Department of State – one year, two years or three years.

She said employees on one-year appointments travel unac-companied by family members and often go to “troubled” coun-tries such as Iraq or Afghani-stan.

Two-year appointments in-volve a little more hardship in countries less “troubled” than Iraq or Afghanistan, Williams said.

She said three-year appoint-ments take place in developed countries such as Italy or Aus-tralia.

Williams said the assignments can get diffi cult at times.

“You’re away from family and friends,” she said.

She said trips back to the United States are required by the Department of State.

“You should spend some time and reacquaint yourself (with American culture),” she said.

She said that before leaving for an assignment, the Depart-ment of State requires applicants to take language classes for the country they’re assigned.

By Husain SumraStaff Writer

Street gang.Lt. John Spicer, from the San

Jose Police Department, said the area adjacent to the campus has the lowest reported amount of gang violence out of the four geo-graphical areas in San Jose.

He said those areas include Central Division (where SJSU is located), Foothill Division (East San Jose), Western Division, and the Southern Division.

Spicer said 10 incidents were reported in the Central Division in the last month.

GANGSFrom Page 1

Department of State specialist lectures students

If the Alexa, traffi cestimate and other survey Web sites are to be believed, some SJSU students have ignored MySpace and have chosen to use Facebook for social network-ing.

MySpace’s worldwide use has dropped from around 7 percent to about 4 percent in the past year, ac-cording to the Alexa Web site.

Alexa is a Web information company that provides information on Web site page views and tracks other information, such as how long a Web site loads.

Facebook’s worldwide use has increased from about 7 percent to 28 percent in the past year, accord-ing to the Alexa Web site.

Freshman economics major Yvonne Ta said she chose Facebook for a specifi c reason.

“More of my friends are on Fa-cebook,” she said.

Kim Uhlik, an assistant profes-sor in hospitality, recreation and tourism management, said Face-book’s popularity makes it compa-rable to a society.

“When it became global, as it is now, with literally millions and mil-lions of users, it develops the same social characteristics as of an actual society — that being a virtual soci-ety,” he said.

Uhlik said Facebook’s societal characteristics help groups of friends stick together on the Web site.

“People will not go on there now simply to communicate with one another, but now to visit with their friends virtually online,” he said.

Facebook users spend twice the amount of time on Facebook’s Web site than MySpace users spend on MySpace’s Web site, according to the Alexa Web site.

Devan Sri-Th aran, a sophomore computer engineering major, said he joined Facebook to connect with friends, but that there were reasons other than communication that keep him interested in the Web site.

“Facebook is just a clean inter-face,” he said. “It’s just easier to use.”

According to the Alexa Web site, Facebook’s Web site’s average load time is 0.118 seconds, while MyS-pace’s average load time is 3.716 seconds.

Sri-Th aran said Facebook’s large user base allows him to keep in touch with more friends.

“I could connect with people, in terms of a couple of my friends are international, so I could always hook up with them online,” he said.

Senior Spanish major Paola Vil-lalvazo said Facebook has more se-curity than MySpace.

“You get more stalkers on MyS-pace than you do on Facebook,” she said.

Brian Bui, a sophomore elec-trical engineering major, said he’s never used MySpace, but Facebook has problems as well.

“It’s kind of slow, and sometimes there’s a lot of glitches,” he said.

MySpace has had 95 million visitors in the past 30 days, while Facebook has had 332 million visi-tors, according to the traffi cestimate Web site.

AroundDowntown

Workers put the fi nishing touches on several carnival rides between the Fairmont Hotel and Bijan Bakery & Cafe in downtown San Jose in preparation for Christmas in the Park.

[ Dave Cabebe / Spartan Daily ]

By Husain SumraStaff Writer

No space for MySpace

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Spartan Daily4[ ]NEWS Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Schehrbano Khan Freshman, Molecular Biology

Max Gustofson Senior, Advertising

Alvin TanSenior, Communication Studies

Allen HoSenior, Computer Science

Jeanette Mathios Senior, Nutritional Science

Kellie GleedGraduate student in Education

CampusVoices What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?Feature and Photos by Leonard Lai

I’m thankful for my friends and family, and thankful for my freedom to choose the things I want to do.

I’m thankful for my parents supporting me throughout my college career. I can’t thank them enough.

I’m thankful for my happiness. I feel open and free right now. Life just feels a lot easier.

I’m thankful I have a spot in school and still have a job in this economy.

I’m thankful my grandfather is doing better, because he was sick. I’m also thankful for the support I’ve gotten from the academic advising and retention services.

I’m thankful for my family and friends, and the opportunity to go to school to educate the youth, because I’m a teacher.

nus, said many artists stay in San Jose because there is a lot of support for local artists.

“Th e South First Fridays event has turned art apprecia-tion into a social activity,” Yao said. “Th e social aspect of art ex-hibits has made the scene more popular in San Jose as people are starting to make an eff ort to show up because it is something interesting to do.”

Artists in San Jose fi nd it diffi cult to fi nd places to show their artwork, Smith said and the economy has aff ected the sale of art.

“If you talk to even the big artists, they are selling about 70 percent less than what they were even a couple of years ago,” he said.

Th e economy has hindered public art for the past two years because galleries are receiving fewer donations from support-ers that allow the art scene to fl ourish, Smith said.

Despite the diffi culty, he said certain galleries are trying to re-ignite art culture in San Jose.

“Th e gallery Anno Domini has created downtown window gallery shows that allow SJSU students to display their art-work in vacant building fronts,” Smith said.

Cherri Lakey, owner of Anno Domini Gallery, located at 366 S. First St., said there are many possible reasons behind the slow development of art culture in San Jose.

“It takes a lot more eff ort to create a common place for art collectors to gather,” Lakey said. “It is also very expensive to live here, so people must work longer hours to pay for necessities and that precious time outside of work is spent with family.”

Art is pushed down on the list of important priorities, she said.

Morgan Chivers, a senior

double major in photogra-phy and spatial arts, said the art scene is rapidly growing in San Jose.

“It is hard to compare the art culture in San Jose to San Fran-cisco’s art culture, because San Jose is basically eight cities com-piled into one conglomerate city with no centralized downtown,” he said.

Bill Gould, an art and in-terior design lecturer, said San Jose needs to create a centralized downtown to construct a solid art culture.

“Th ere is defi nitely a strong culture of artists, but it could be better,” he said.

Gould said despite San Jose’s large population, the residents have a diff erent way of life.

“San Jose is much more of a car

culture,” he said. “Th e shopping centers are spread away from the downtown center, where people are most likely to go shop and see movies.”

Gould said shopping cen-ters such as Santana Row hurt downtown, because it draws people away from a potential downtown-oriented city.

He said spreading consumer activities outside of downtown has created an area that shuts down early. He said a possible solution to create a stronger art scene is to turn downtown San Jose into an area that is open 24-hours.

“By creating an area open later, it could entice people to come and spend time down-town rather than other areas of the city,” Gould said.

ARTFrom Page 1

5Spartan DailyTuesday, November 24, 2009 A & E]

Th e screams and sighs of teenage girls fi lled San Bruno’s Tanforan Th eater as Edward Cullen appeared on the screen with his smoldering golden-brown eyes, pale white skin and red lips.

“Th e Twilight Saga: New Moon” offi cially opened in the-aters everywhere on Friday, un-less you were fortunate to get advance screening tickets.

Some theaters off ered a spe-cial midnight showing devoted “Twilight” followers.

“New Moon” is the second in a series of movies based on the “Twilight” novel series by author Stephanie Meyer.

Th e novels and movies fol-low the adventures of teenage girl Bella Swan, who moves to Forks, Wash. to live with her father.

Bella is the new student

at her school, and her only friend is Jacob Black, a Native American who lives on a nearby reservation.

Th ough it is not said in the “Twilight” movie, Jacob has in-timate feelings for Bella, though she only views him as a friend.

In “Twilight,” Bella meets the Cullen family at school and fi nds herself especially interested in Edward.

She starts to fall for Edward, but later discovers that he and his family are vampires.

In return, Edward yearns for Bella’s blood but realizes that his love for her is greater than any other addiction.

Th roughout the fi lm, the couple’s relationship is com-plicated by the appearance of three other outside vampires responsible for mysterious killings in Forks.

In “New Moon,” the drama and love triangle continues as Bella, played by Kristen Stewart, is forced to choose between her childhood friend Jacob, played by Taylor Lautner, and her fi rst true love Edward, played

by Robert Patt inson. Th ough this fi lm is part of

a four-part love story like the books, nothing in it compares to the fi rst fi lm, “Twilight.”

It was encouraging that the “New Moon” fi lm stayed true to the book, which was one of the reasons I was excited to see it.

I had been anticipating “New Moon” for more than a year, but now I believe that some actors were miscast.

Lautner’s portrayal of Ja-cob, who has the ability to transform into a werewolf, was unconvincing.

In the “New Moon” novel, Ja-cob was characterized as strong and handsome, with a domi-nant personality, while Lautner was anything but.

Lautner’s lack of height and kid-like demeanor made the choice between Edward and Jacob an easy one.

The only thing appeal-ing about Lautner’s perfor-mance was his body, because he spent time building muscle to better suit his character as a werewolf.

Stewart’s emotions through-out the fi lm seemed to be misplaced.

Th ere were moments in the movie when I expected Stewart to cry, and instead she would be hesitant, or have a blank ex-pression where she should have been sad or happy.

Th e chemistry between Bel-la and her father Charlie Swan, played by Billy Burke, was awkward and uneasy, adding edginess to the fi lm.

Burke’s performance was su-perb, and it was a treat to watch him on screen in his fl awless portrayal of the concerned, but not demanding, father.

Th ere were parts of the fi lm when he did not even need to voice his expressions — the si-lences spoke for him.

While the action scenes in “New Moon” did not impress me, the computer-generated

imagery that turned Jacob into a werewolf was both be-lievable and lifelike, unlike Lautner’s performance.

Stewart’s acting abilities have been questionable in the past because of her dry appear-ance, awkwardness on camera and her monotone voice.

But when casting her for the role of Bella, Director Cath-erine Hardwicke made an ef-fective choice, because Stewart and the character of Bella seem very similar.

Patt inson continued to compel my att ention, pale skin and all.

His portrayal of a vampire was realistic from his acting down to his appearance.

He was dangerous, unap-proachable and suave, but he still managed to be alluring.

Th ere was less of Patt in-son in “New Moon,” but his

acting seemed to improve in this fi lm than when com-pared with his performancein “Twilight.”

Th e lack of acting was a dis-appointment in “New Moon” compared with “Twilight.”

Th ough the storyline is more complicated, Stewart and Lautner’s lack of chemistry was noticeable.

It was surprising that it was the minor characters that car-ried the fi lm and made the romantic thriller bearable to endure.

Hopefully the actors will have improved their perfor-mances in “Eclipse,” the next installment of the “Twilight” series is due to be released next summer .

But, if you’re just looking for prett y faces to glare at you from the screen, then “New Moon” is probably the fi lm for you.

By Jhenene LouisStaff Writer

Sultry, sulky ‘New Moon’ castsucks talent out of fi lmMovieeview:R

Actress Kristen Stewart stars as Bella Swan along with co-star Peter Facinelli as Dr. Carlisle Cullen in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”

[Photo courtesy of The Internet Movie Database]

Kristen Stewart with co-star Taylor Lautner in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”[Photo courtesy of The Internet Movie Database]

6 Tuesday, November 24, 2009Spartan DailyA & E] ]

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SJSU grad newest ‘CSI: Miami’ cast member

With SJSU roots, former student Omar Miller has made his way into the big screen.

Miller is the newest cast member of the television show “CSI: Miami,” according to a biography provided by his publicist.

Miller has also been fea-tured in films such as “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” “8 Mile” and “Things We Lost in the Fire.”

Professor Amy Glazer of the

television, radio, film and the-ater department said Miller was one of her shining stars, and she is proud of his trajectory.

“He took all of my courses, everything, and I was not only his teacher, but his mentor,” she said. “In fact, I was the per-son who got him his first agent when he moved to L.A.

“The thing about Omar is that the camera loved him, and he had a great presence when he was on stage.”

Through a telephone inter-view, Miller said he arrived at

SJSU in Fall 1999 and gradu-ated in Spring 2001.

In terms of his experience at SJSU, Miller said that with the help of his professors, he was able to discover what he want-ed to do after college.

“It was college,” Miller said. “It did exactly what it was sup-posed to do. I had a bunch of great professors, some of which are still there, like Bob Rucker and Amy Glazer.

“They took the time to take an interest in me and help me find what it is I wanted to do in

life.”Miller’s Hollywood acting

career began with the Disney film, “Sorority Boys,” according to the biography.

He was still a student en-rolled at SJSU when filming began.

Jerry Bruckheimer, the ex-ecutive producer of “CSI: Mi-ami,” decided to create a role specifically for Miller in the television show after recogniz-ing his talent, according to the biography.

“So far it’s really great,” Miller said of being the newest cast member of the television series.

Glazer said she noticed Miller’s discipline and vigor early on, once he had decided that acting was the career path he wanted.

“Omar is an intelligent ac-tor, and he picked intelligent roles,” she said. “Omar was not afraid to take chances. He was not afraid to go big. He always committed.”

Working with Miller from the beginning of his acting ca-reer, Glazer said she recognized Miller’s strengths with art.

“He intuitively understood what it was to be in action — what it was to be in motion,” she said. “He had an intuitive rela-tionship to acting and brought, from early on, not only energy and charisma, but authenticity and truth.”

Miller said that challenges are a part of everyday life.

“Nothing develops when you’re living life without them,” he said. “Challenges are all about no security, so to say. Nothing in the acting world is easy as ‘one plus one equals two.’ That’s just how it goes.”

Looking beyond acting, Miller said he would eventu-ally like to do work behind the camera.

“I’ve directed a family film and it was fun,” he said. “I would definitely like to put out positive energy and positive work for people of color.”

Promoting the positives of having a diverse media is something Miller said he hopes to do.

“It’s very important that positive energy and strong images are portrayed around the world, because in my trav-els, I’ve realized that a lot of people are only exposed to dif-ferent cultures through enter-tainment,” he said. “They see something negative, and that’s what they really believe.”

As advice for aspiring film students, Miller said that it would be best for students to take advantage of the ever-changing opportunities in the media.

“Be persistent and exercise all these new options that are

available,” he said. “There’s a lot of new avenues that are available for film producing — Internet, the ‘Webisodes,’ web series and all this stuff that’s re-ally newer and was just starting to open when I was in school.

“Now it’s just busted wide open.”

“There’s so many different ways to get your craft out there, so I think students should take advantage of all these differ-ent options they have and get it crackin’.”

Omar’s next film project will be “The Lion of Judah,” which will mark his first experience into the world of animation, ac-cording to the biography.

He will be providing the voice of a pig named Horace.

Omar Miller is the newest cast member to join television show, CSI: Miami.

[ Photo courtesy of CBS Television Network ]

Omar Miller graduated from SJSU in 2001 and has appeared in movies such as Spike Lee’s “Miracle at St. Anna” and Curtis Hanson’s “8 Mile.”

[ Photo courtesy of Pinnacle Public Relations ]

By Regina AquinoStaff Writer

I just got my classes lined up, and the sensation was not unlike sliding into home plate —which is to say, I was natu-rally shocked that it worked out.

Scratch that — it’s more like sliding into third. I don’t feel safe like I have on the solitary occasion when I did slide to home. Home plate means you get a high five and a pat on the back – or ass, depending on your team’s dynamics.

After sliding home, a meteor could hit you and it wouldn’t matter. A mutant Rottweiler could devour you. Whatever. You made it.

Third plate is not so secure. If the meteor smacks into me now, suddenly I haven’t made it after all.

It’s my last semester. I should be shoveled out the door under the current policy, right? Word on the street is, dead people and dogs are being handed degrees in haste, to ensure a decent turnover at SJSU — to ensure we super seniors quit hogging the places freshmen may take.

Well, I’m not dead, nor am I a dog – a shoe-in, you might think.

But why am I on third?Before we get into that

who’s-on-first crap, I’ll rumi-nate that I don’t know if you’re like me, but you might be. If you are, you get the distinct impression that the Califor-nia State University system is hanging you upside-down by your ankles, shaking all the change and personal effects from your pockets, and then saying, “more, please” – before giving you a boot to the head, a swift kick to the butt, and say-ing, “Now get oudda here, ya

knucklehead.”If you are like me, you’ve

considered getting the hell out of this insane asylum, finding a job someplace like Best Buy or Wal-Mart, clawing your way to the top and becoming a micro-managing retail nightmare of an individual before finally get-ting fired years down the line, on the brink of middle age, for violating the sexual harassment policy.

Yikes! That doesn’t sound like any fun. Wal-Mart is the devil. How could I have con-sidered, however briefly, work-ing for Satan?

It just goes to show you how troubling these times are. We’re paying more for our educa-tion, and we are rewarded with furlough days, fewer units and sections. And if, after paying the hiked tuition, I get a letter in my MySJSU inbox saying I need to cough up another few hundred, I don’t care how well the extra dough is rationalized in the letter, I swear I’ll whack myself silly with a Wiffle bat. That’s saying something. Ex-perts agree, this is the longest and most painful death.

Have you ever read “Les Miserables?” I read the book, and am not sure if the version with all that singing and racket has the same story. Neverthe-less, being on the brink of free-dom from this school madness has me feeling like Jean Valjean, in that I’m less than a year away for getting out of prison — err, CSU – and am terrified that I’m going to do something goofy, like take a rock to my leg shackle and make a run for the nearest Wal-Mart.

Ack! But Wal-Mart is the devil!

I’m a nervous wreck. I simply must get on with my life, but it seems as if the universe has made it a priority to keep my numb brain in some deranged school feedback loop, and has somehow taken a break from all that important stuff, like mak-ing the world spin, keeping the sun yellow, producing air, etc.

Gentle reader, I’ve been through several ups and downs with this whole college thing, and have had it.

What’s that? You’ve had it too?

Goodness me, a kindred spirit.

Hot damn. Let’s stick to-gether, because in my estima-tion, finishing school is kind of an important thing these days. No joke. Jobs at Taco Bell now require a Master’s degree. True story.

We need a mantra. “I will not work at Wal-Mart, claw my way to the top, become a micro-

managing dumbass, and finally get fired while approaching middle age for violating some section of the sexual harass-ment code.”

No, let’s make sure to get nice, shiny degrees and do all that horrible stuff in an office, while standing around the wa-ter cooler.

We have a mantra. We have to get through this. No turn-ing back now, we’ve wasted too much time and money.

Gentle readers, please join me in my concerted effort to not give up, to finally blow this popsicle stand, and if all else fails, just to work anywhere but Wal-Mart.

Sure, life seems pretty futile at this juncture, but don’t let that get you down. You’ve just slid to third.

My boyfriend has been trying to buy a house for almost a year now. Because I have been heavily involved in the pro-cess and will be living in the property, I will refer to it as “our house” and not “his house.”

We are primarily interested in the Oak-land area, but our budget is low.

We want to live in a nice house, in a nice neighborhood, with a picket fence and a fireplace — but we just can’t afford it.

Since last January, we have viewed over 80 homes, most of them foreclosed homes in rough neighborhoods.

Although buying a foreclosed property is the best way to use our small amount of money, it wasn’t until last Saturday that we reconsidered our judgment.

Our realtor called with news of a new property to the market within our price range.

So we loaded up the car and headed over to check it out.

When we ar-rived, we found the front door slightly opened, so our re-altor and myself walked in.

We were greeted sadly by the family being evicted.

I was mortified, almost to the point of tears.

My boyfriend had no idea, because he decided to check out the backyard first.

The father, the mother and two of their children rummaged through what was left of their personal property, as we apolo-gized profusely for violating their space.

They were strong — stronger than I would have been in their situation.

There was a language barrier, but they assured us it was OK to look. I guess they had already accepted their fate.

Soon after, the family drove off with whatever they could carry.

But their presence still lingered.We knew long before we encountered

this family what state the housing market is in.

How could you not?But what I had encountered was noth-

ing like listening to a breaking news story about our country’s economic hardships.

What I experienced was a family no different socially or economically than my family.

California and the rest of the country have experienced a record-breaking in-crease in foreclosed homes, aided by faulty loans and job loss.

“The foreclosure figures for March 2009 broke all records and proved to be not only the most number of cases for a given month, but also the highest number of cases for a given quarter,” according to the Realty Trac Web site.

Realty Trac is a company that keeps track of all the foreclosure cases that are taking place in the country.

In March 2009, 341,180 cases of fore-closure were reported. The figures indi-cated an increase of 17 percent from the figures reported for the preceding quarter, according to the Realty Trac Web site.

According to the Realty Trac site, the increase in the number of foreclosures since March 2008 was a mind-boggling 46 percent.

The low prices of these foreclosed homes have bottom feeders, like investors, drooling over properties.

I wonder if the banks and bottom feed-ers have ever encountered the families and their lingering presences.

The family behind foreclosures

Call for a mantra to not work for the devil

7Spartan DailyTuesday, November 24, 2009 OPINION []

Staff Writer

Alicia Johnson

...Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada?

...the state of New York officially made Thanksgiving an annual custom in 1817?

...Californians are the largest consumers of turkey in the United States?

Did you know ...

thanksgivingnovember.com

Thomson, Ill. is a small town struggling through the re-cession. Thomson might have a way out of the recession, from the unlikeliest of sources — terrorists.

Suspected terrorists, that is. Guantanamo Bay detainees

are going to be brought into the U.S. and put on trial. The problem is finding them a place to stay.

The Obama administration has been kicking the around the idea of housing the detainees at Thomson prison. The Federal Bureau of Prisons would pur-chase Thomson prison from the state of Illinois and the de-tainees would be housed in a separate wing of the 1,600-cell prison.

The eight-year-old prison is exactly the kind of modern facility needed to house the inmates, said Harley Lappin, head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, in a Reuters article.

Residents of Thomson and nearby towns are mostly in fa-vor of the move because of the jobs that would be created — Lappin said the prison would create around 500 jobs, accord-ing to the same article.

The local residents want the detainees in Thomson. Obama wants the detainees in Thomson. The head of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons wants the detainees in Thomson. So it would seem a safe bet that the terrorist suspects will find themselves in Thomson, once the legal mumbo-jumbo is sorted.

But there is one group that doesn’t want the detainees in Thomson.

Republicans argue that by bringing detainees to America, the suspected terrorists may compromise security and be afforded rights they do not de-serve.

Republicans are seeking a vote on legislation aimed at prohibiting the Obama admin-istration from trying suspected terrorist in U.S. courts.

The main Republican argu-ment is one of security — that

terrorists will escape and blow us all up.

Yet during the Bush admin-istration, 195 terrorists were tried, convicted and locked up on U.S. soil. How many of those terrorists have escaped and wreaked havoc on U.S. ci-vilians?

Not one.Playing the fear card is a typ-

ical Republican ploy to garner support. Does anyone remem-ber the color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System?

From a cool, soothing low-level green to a bright red that signaled a “severe risk of a ter-rorist attack.”

Ever since Obama took of-fice, Republicans have been seeing red and shouting it too. They are using Thomson as a way to gain political points.

Republican Pete Hoekstra of Michigan said the Obama administration was bribing lo-cal cash-strapped communi-ties into taking the prisoners. Yet those citizens in Thomson want the detainees and the jobs that would follow.

Republican Mark Kirk of Illinois, who is running for Obama’s vacant senate seat, said that a nuclear plant near Thomson could become a tar-get if terrorists were brought near it — as if it wouldn’t have been a target before.

These are just two examples of baseless claims coming from the right.

Republicans talk about rights and security like they know what is best for the citi-zens of Thomson.

Those same citizens have a right to financial security that just doesn’t exist in Thomson right now. Bringing Gitmo de-tainees to the Thomson prison would open up jobs and pro-vide a better way of life for a lot of people.

If it was up to Republicans, those citizens in Thomson would never have that chance.

The sunny side of terrorism

Angelo Lanham

Yes, I Have A Point

Adam Murphy is a Spartan Daily sports editor.“Murphy’s Law” appears every Tuesday.

Angelo Lanham is a Spartan Daily copy editor. “Yes, I Have A Point” appears every Tuesday.

Adam Murphy

Murphy’s Law

This Thanksgiving, the SJSU science department vows to put a roast turkey on Mars.

illustration by Carl Evans

Ruminations

Senior Staff WritersRyan Buchan, Kaajal Morar, Tommy Wright, Jon Xavier

Staff WritersJill Abell, Regina Aquino, Ben Cadena, Dominique Dumadaug, Ryan Fernandez, Jennifer Hadley, Alicia Johnson, Leonard Lai, Jhenene Louis, Angela Marino, My Nguyen, Samantha Rivera, Kyle Szyman-ski, Husain Sumra, Suzanne Yada

Senior Advertising StaffSamantha Inouye, Advertising DirectorSusana de Sousa, Asst. Advertising DirectorVanessa Abiva, Creative DirectorLeslie Ruckman, Asst. Creative Director

Advertising StaffJoreen Bones, Leslie Chan, Vanessa Diaz , Amy Donecho, Julie Hock, Joanna Jackson, Jennifer Jenkins, Amy Kim, Shirlene Kwan, Joanna Lin, Marti Malloy, Jenny Ngo, Angel Perez, Alison Reid, Annelie Stanley, Kathy Tran, James Yang

Staff PhotographersKirsten Aguilar, Dave Cabebe, Michelle Gachet, Chad Ziemendorf

IllustratorsJenni Curtice, Carl Evans, Evan Suarez

AdvisersRichard Craig, NewsMack Lundstrom, NewsJan Shaw, News

Opinion Page PolicyLetters to the editor may be placed in the letters to the editor box in the Spartan Daily offi ce in Dwight Bentel Hall, Room 209, sent by fax to (408) 924-3282, e-mailed to spartandaily@casa.sjsu.edu or mailed to the Spartan Daily Opinion Editor, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA 95192-0149. Letters to the editor must contain the author’s name, address, phone number, sig-nature and major. Letters become property

Senior Editorial StaffHank Drew, Executive EditorJulianne Shapiro, Managing EditorMike Anderson, Multimedia EditorScott Reyburn, Online EditorStephanie Vallejo, Op/Ed EditorAdam Murphy, Sports EditorJoey Akeley, Sports EditorMinh Pham, A & E EditorAllie Figures, Features EditorElizabeth Kang, Copy EditorSarah Kyo, Copy EditorAngelo Lanham, Copy EditorJoe Proudman, Photo EditorMauricio Garcia, Production EditorRachel Peterson, Production Editor

Spartan DailySan Jose State UniversitySan Jose, CA 95192-0149(408) 924-3281

of the Spartan Daily and may be edited for clarity, grammar, libel and length. Only letters of 300 words or less will be considered for publication. SJSU students, faculty and staff organizations may place items in Sparta Guide free of charge. Submissions must be placed in the Sparta Guide box at the Spartan Daily by noon and three days before publication. Space limitations may require light editing of material. No phoned in items will be accepted. Th ere is also a form at thespartandaily.com. Published opinions and advertise-ments do not necessarily refl ect the views of the Spartan Daily, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication or SJSU. Th e Spartan Daily is a public forum.

Kim Komenich, PhotojournalismTim Hendrick, AdvertisingTim Burke, Production ChiefTim Mitchell, DesignPat Wallraven, Business Manager

DistributionPiyush Bansal, Gurdip Chera

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8[ ] Spartan Daily Tuesday, November 24, 2009SPORTS

Spartans attempt to stay out of cellar

Th e Spartan football team will play its fi nal game at home this Saturday and head coach Dick Tomey may coach for the fi nal time in Spartan Stadium.

Tomey an-nounced last week that he will retire from coaching the Spartan football team after the season is over.

“I am a senior like the other guys,” Tomey said. “I am a senior two ways. I am senior in age and I am senior in that it’s my last game at Spartan Stadium.

“… One of (the players) al-luded to the fact they were go-ing to try and win it for me last week and I said, ‘Guys, you have already done more for me than I could ever repay. So that is not what you need to be thinking about. You just need to win the game for our team, for our fans, for our players, for yourselves.’”

Saturday’s matchup against the New Mexico State Aggies will pair the teams with the two worst

records in the Western Athletic Conference.

Th e Aggies have won three games, two against NCAA Foot-ball Bowl Subdivision opponents, while the Spartans lone victory was against Cal Poly, a Football

C h a m p i o n -ship Subdivision team.

Th is season will be the fourth time in 28 years that a Tomey-coached team has lost more than six games in a sea-

son.“I have never been down this

road, but it’s real,” Tomey said. “We have to just understand we have to keep fi ghting, keep work-ing and there is no easy way.”

SJSU and New Mexico State are the two lowest ranked teams in scoring off ense in the WAC.

Th e Aggies average 12 points per game, which is the lowest in the FBS. Th e Spartans’ 13 points per game is ranked 118 out of 120 teams.

In the game against Hawaii, senior Kyle Reed replaced junior Jordan La Secla as quarterback in the fi rst half.

Tomey said he is unsure if Reed will start on Saturday, but added on senior day if the decision is close, he will usually go with the senior.

“I thought Kyle gave us a shot in the arm (against Hawaii),” Tomey said. “I don’t think we change that much (off ensively) ex-cept that obviously Kyle gives us a little bit more running capability.”

Reed started eight games in 2008 for SJSU after transferring from Cal in 2007.

SJSU wide receiver Kevin Ju-rovich caught at least seven passes in all but one of the team’s fi rst fi ve games this season. In the last fi ve games, Jurovich has not caught more than six passes in a game. In three of those games, he had three catches or less.

In 2007, Jurovich’s last healthy season, he caught 85 passes for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns. Jurovich has not caught a touch-down pass this season.

With less than one minute to go in regulation against Hawaii, running back Lamon Muldrow fumbled the ball. Tomey said its likely that senior running back Patrick Perry will start on Satur-day because of Muldrow’s fum-bling problems.

Spartan Football Player Statistics

Win would be fi rst in conference play

(Above) Quarterback Kyle Reed, No.7, is tackled dur-ing the Spartans 17-10 loss to Hawaii on Saturday.

(Right) Quarterback Jor-dan La Secla, No 12, looks downfi eld for a receiver on Saturday.

By Ryan BuchanSenior Staff Writer

“We have to just understand we have

to keep fighting, keep working and there is

no easy way.”- Dick Tomey

Head coach

OffensePlayer Touchdowns Total yards Receptions

Kevin Jurovich 0 741 54

Marquis Avery 4 325 35

Lamon Muldrow 3 572 18

DefensePlayer Tackles Sacks Forced fumbles

Tanner Burns 82 0 4

Duke Ihenacho 77 0 2

Pompey Festejo 67 2 1

Sept. 05 vs USC 56-3 Loss Oct. 31 vs. Boise State 45-7 Loss

Sept. 12 vs Utah 24-14 Loss Nov. 8 vs. Nevada 62-7 Loss

Sept. 19 vs Stanford 42-17 Loss Nov. 14 vs. Utah State 24-9 Loss

Sept. 26 vs Cal Poly 19-9 Win Nov. 21 vs. Hawaii 17-10 Loss

Oct. 10 vs Idaho 29-25 Loss Nov. 28 vs. New Mexico State

Oct. 17 vs Fresno State 41-21 Loss Dec. 5 vs. Louisiana Tech

SJSU Schedule and Results

[Photos by Dave Cabebe / Spartan Daily ]